Ventilated ceiling with valve means



Jan. 30, 1968 w. REYNDERS 3,366,029

VENTILATED CEILING WITH VALVE MEANS Filed May 9, 1966 a Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 30, 1968 w. REvNbERs 3,366,029

VENTILATED CEILING WITH VALVE MEANS Filed May '3, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.5

' Fild May 9, 1966 a Sheets-Sheet PIC-3.9

Jan. 30,1968 w. REYNDERS 3,366,029

VENTILATED CEILING WITH VALVE MEANS FIG." FIG]? United States Patent C) 3,366,029 VENTILATED CEILHNG WITH VALVE MEANS Willem lieynders, Rotterdam, Netherlands, assiguor to Hunter Douglas International Ltd, Montreal, Quebec,

This invention relates to a ceiling having ventilation openings or ventilation gaps and being provided with stringers to which panels or similar elements are secured, to a defining wall for said ventilation openings and also relates to a carrier member for such a defining wall.

It has been found in practice that ventilation air, which is supplied above the ceiling and has to fiow through the ventilation gaps into the space to be ventilated, does not distribute itself uniformly over said gaps so that an irregular ventilation is produced. Another disadvantage of the ceilings of this type known so far is that it appears to be almost impossible to calculate accurately the dimensions of the ventilation gaps in advance.

The invention aims at providing a preferably acoustic ceiling with ventilation openings or ventilation gaps which does not present the aforementioned disadvantages. This is obtained by the invention in that at least between some adjacent stringers ventilation openings are located each formed by two walls defining said ventilation openings, said walls being displaceable relative to each other for adjustment of the width of said ventilation openings and which are carried by carrier members, said Walls comprising a vertical portion and a portion extending under an angle therewith. As a result of the fact that the walls defining the gaps are adjustable relative to each other, said gaps may be adjusted to the required width after the ceiling has been mounted. With the ceiling according to the invention it is achieved that in the entire space above said ceiling the air has the same or substantially the same pressure and that through the gaps located at the greatest distance from the air supply to said space the same or substantially the same amount of air flows into the space to be ventilated as through the gaps situated nearest to said air supply.

According to the invention the lower ends of the walls defining the ventilation openings preferably extend at least to within the openings between the sheets, panels or similar elements. Consequently the edges of the sheets, panels or similar elements may have any shape. If panels made from thin sheet metal, e.g. aluminum sheet, are utilized, these panels may have curled edges or edges processed in a similar manner.

For supporting the defining walls, which if necessary may extend to the upper surface of the stringers, carrier members may be provided which are carried by these stringers. The carrier members may be provided with projections and the defining walls may thereby be constructed such that they may be suspended on the carrier members from above. For each end of the wall a carrier member may be provided, but it is also possible to apply carrier members which project on either side of the stringers, the parts of the carrier members projecting relative to the stringer being each adapted for carrying a defining wall.

According to a preferred embodiment the carrier members may be provided with a stop which defines a minimum distance between two walls defining a ventilation opening. This stop may have, if desired, a number of breaking grooves which offer the possibility of selecting a predetermined minimum distance between two walls defining a ventilation opening. Starting from said minimum ice distance it is easy to adjust the required distance between the defining walls of the ventilation openings after the ceiling has been mounted. Consequently a rapid adjustment of the ventilation openings is possible.

The carrier members may be provided with portions fitting to the stringers, said portions covering the opening(s) between the stringers and the respective walls defining the ventilation openings or ventilation gaps. These portions of the carrier members fitting to the stringers may each comprise at their lower end a recess which is clampingly engaged by a flange of a stringer comprising flanges.

For two walls defining a ventilation opening and located on the same side of a carrier member one carrier mem- ,ber may be provided, the ends of said defining walls and the carrier member being provided with co-operating means for movably mounting the wall ends to the carrier member.

The carrier members may present a shape which mainly corresponds with the shape of the stringer by which they are supported, said carrier members comprising projections which engage with recesses of the ends of the defining wall. The projections may thereby be formed out of the legs of the channel-like carrier members and may have a substantially U-shaped cross-section. The channel-like carrier members may be suspended from above on stringers having a corresponding channel-like shape. In this way an easily mountable support for the defining walls of the ventilation openings is obtained.

A preferred embodiment of the ceiling according to the invention is characterized in that the portion of each opening extending from its lower end up to the vicinity of its upper end is defined by two parallel or substantially parallel wall portions and that above same wall portions are located which define a portion widening towards its end.

It is preferred to provide locking members for locking the defining walls relative to the carrier members. These locking members may consist of lips which are formed out of the defining walls and engage with recesses of the carrier members.

The walls defining the gaps may be of double-walled construction. The upper end of 'the walls defining the ventilation openings may pass with a sharp transition into a horizontal or substantially horizontal portion.

The gaps between the defining walls and the sheets, panels or similar elements or the acoustically absorbing material provided thereon respectively may be covered by a sticking strip connected therewith. In this way leakage losses and turbulence currents are prevented.

The defining walls may comprise a horizontal or substantially horizontal portion which carries or supports a marginal portion of sheets or layers of soundabsorbing material or a marginal portion of the sheets, panels or similar elements of the ceiling.

The invention will be further explained below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing by way of example some embodiments of part of a ceiling according to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a portion of this ceiling in perspective, viewed from above.

FIG. 2 shows, in perspective, a portion of said ceiling on an enlarged scale, some parts having been omitted for claritys sake.

FIG. 3 shows a portion of said ceiling with a tool for adjusting the gap width.

FIG. 4 shows a carrier member in perspective.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show two adjusting tools in perspective.

FIG. 7 shows part of another embodiment of a defining wall.

FIG. 8 shows a section of another embodiment of a ceiling.

FIG. 9 shows a top plan view of a further embodiment of a portion of a ceiling.

FIG. 10 is a section according to the line XX of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 shows, in perspective, a portion of the partition applied in FIGS. 9 and 10.

FIG. 12 shows, in perspective, the carrier member shown in FIGS. 10 and 11.

The ceilin partly shown in FIGS. 1-4 incl. comprises profiled metal stringers 1 provided with flanges 2, said flanges having lips 3 by means of which panels 4 with bent or curled longitudinal marginal portions are interspacedly secured to said flanges. Over these panels 4 a sheet or layer 5 is provided, which consists of sounddamping or sound-adsorbing material. This sheet or layer is supported by flanges Between the sheets 5 there is provided a gap 6 in which two walls 7 are disposed which are adjustable relative to each other and define a ventilation gap 8. These walls 7 extend to within a gap between two adjacent panels 4 and extend from their lower end to the vicinity of the upper end of the gap 8 defined by them parallel or substantially parallel to each other, the wall portions lo cated above said parallel or substantially parallel wall portions defining an upwardly widening gap portion 9. These gap portions 9 sharply change into the gaps 8, as is apparent from the drawings.

As appears from the drawings the walls defining the gap may be of double construction. The wall portions adjacent to the sheets or layers 5 are thereby each provided with a squarely bent strip-like portion 10 extending under a sheet or layer 5.

In order to prevent leakage losses the seams 11 between the sheets or layers 5, the stringers and the walls defining the gaps are covered with sticking strips, as may be seen in FIG. 2, in which the seam between a wall 7 and a sheet or layer 5 of sound-absorbing material is covered with a sticking strip 12. In this way leakage losses are avoided.

In order to carry the walls 7 clip-like carrier means 13 are disposed on the stringers 1, said carrier means having carrier wings 14. Said carrier wings directly fit to the stringers 1 so that no turbulence and leakage currents impeding a satisfactory ventilation may occur past said stringer. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 2, the walls 7 defining a gap 8 need not extend to the stringers 1 so that these are more simply shaped. The carrier wings thereby constitute part of the walls defining the gaps. The carrier wings 14 are extended to within the gap between two adjacent panels 4 and have a recess 15 for engagement with a flange 2 of a stringer 1.

The carrier members 13 comprise a stop 16 by means of which the minimum distance between each two walls 7 defining a gap 8, 9 may be adjusted during mounting. As shown in FIG. 4 said stop 16 may be provided with breaking grooves 17 so that the minimum distance be tween these two walls may be selected at a desired magnitude prior to mounting.

The above-described ceiling may be mounted for example in the following manner.

After the stringers 1 and the panels 4 have been mounted in a manner known per se the clip-like carrier means 13 are pressed from above onto the stringers 1, the edges of the flanges 2 engaging with the recesses 15 of the carrier wings 14. Consequently the carrier means can only be shifted after a certain frictional resistance in the longitudinal directional of the stringers 1 is overcome. As a result the carrier means are secured against undesirable vertical and horizontal displacements. Subsequently a gap defining wall 7 is suspended on two wings 14 of two carrier members 13 facing each other, a projecting rim 18 of the wall 7 preventing said wall from further sliding down through coming into contact with said wing 14. For this purpose said wing has an abutment edge 19 located at such a height that, when the wall 7 cannot move down any farther, the strip-like portion 10 is flush with the flanges 2. Thereafter a second wall 7 is mounted in the same way, and this wall is moved up with the carrier members, until the stops 16 come into contact with each other. The gaps 8 then have a predetermined minimum width.

If it is required to make the gap wider after the ceiling has been mounted, the tool 20 shown in FIG. 5 may be used. This tool has two flat ends 21 and 22 the narrow sides of which are so dimensioned that said ends may be inserted in the gaps. When one of the ends is located in a gap, the tool is turned over an angle of 90 (see FIG. 3). The flat sides of both ends 21 and 22 of the tool 20 have a diflerent width, for example 1 and 1.5 mm. respectively. The range of these dimensions may strongly vary according to requirements. By means of the tool 23 the gaps may be narrowed. For this purpose the two walls 7 defining a gap are brought into a gap 24 provided in said tool whereupon this tool is turned.

As is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 4 the carrier member shown therein is provided with recesses 25 in which lips 26 serving ts locking members are located, said lips being bent out of the defining walls 7. Thus the defining walls are prevented from moving upwards.

FIG. 7 shows a double-walled defining wall 7', with a sloping upper portion. When utilizing these defining walls the transition of the gap portion defined by the vertical portions of said defining walls into the gap portion defined by the sloping portions of said walls is somewhat less sharp.

FIG 8 shows a section of part of a ceiling of which the left hand portion shows a ventilation gap 29 defined by two defining walls 27, 28. The defining walls 27, 28 comprise a bent portion 30, said portions 30 engaging with recesses 31 of ceiling sheets 32. In addition the defining walls may have a bent covering rim, as may be seen at the left hand wall. The right hand portion of FIG. 8 shows a normal suspension of the other side of the sheet 32 by means of a T-profile 33 of which the horizontal flange 34 engages with recesses 31 of the ceiling sheet 32. Consequently the gap 35 between these two ceiling sheets is closed.

In the embodiment according to FIGS. 9-12 the carrier member 36 is channel-shaped and is slid from above onto a channel-shaped stringer 37 with two flanges 38. The flanges 38 engage with recesses 39 of defining walls 40. Moreover these defining walls have recesses 41 for engagement with projections 42 of the carrier member 36.

The horizontal portions 43 of the defining walls is supported by the upper surfaces of the projections 42.

It is obvious that the invention is not restricted to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, but that these may be modified in many ways without departing from the scope of the invention as laid down in the claims.

I claim:

1. A ceiling assembly comprising a plurality of stringers adapted to carry ceiling panels, a plurality of carrier members carried by said stringers, and at least one pair of wall members extending at an angle with respect to said stringers, the opposite ends of each of said wall members being supported by a carrier member, the two wall members of each pair being spaced apart to define a ventilation opening and being displaceable relative to each other for adjustment of the width of said opening.

2. A ceiling assembly according to claim 1, wherein each carrier member is slidably mounted with respect to a stringer, each carrier member being provided with at least one substantially vertical projection onto which one of the ends of said wall members engages.

3. A ceiling assembly according to claim 1, wherein each carrier member has a clip-like portion lighty clampingly supporting each carrier member on a stringer, each carrier being further provided with two projections projecting on either side of said stringer, each projection carrying a wall member.

4. A ceiling assembly according to claim 1, wherein the carrier members supporting said pair of wall members are provided with stops which engage to define the minimum distance between said pair of wall members.

5. A ceiling assembly according to claim 4, wherein each stop has a number of breaking grooves, the grooves of each cooperating stop adapted to engage so that said minimum distance may be regulated.

6. A ceiling assembly according to claim 2, wherein said projection snugly fits to said stringer and closes the opening between said stringer and the wall members supported thereby.

7. A ceiling assembly according to claim 6, wherein said stringers have at least one flange, each of said projections having a recess at its lower end clampingly engaging a flange of the stringer which supports the corresponding carrier member.

8. A ceiling assembly according to claim 1, wherein each carrier member is provided with a substantially horizontal projection projecting on either side of the stringer on which it is mounted, each of said projections engaging recesses formed in a corresponding wall member to displaceably support said wall member.

9. A ceiling assembly according to claim 8, wherein said carrier members fit over said stringers.

10. A ceiling assembly according to claim 1, wherein each of the two wall members forming a pair has a substantially vertical wall portion extending from its lower end up to the vicinity of its upper end, the substantially vertical portions of said pair of wall members being parallel to one another, each of said parallel wall portions merging at its upper end into a substantially horizontal wall portion in such a way that the ventilation opening defined therebetween widens towards its upper end.

11. A ceiling assembly according to claim 1, further comprising means for locking the wall members to the carrier members.

12. A ceiling assembly according to claim 1, wherein said wall members are double walled.

13. A ceiling assembly according to claim 1, wherein each two adjacent stringers support two opposite marginal portions of a ceiling panel, at least one other marginal portion of said panel being supported by a wall member.

1-4. A ceiling assembly according to claim 13, wherein each of said wall members has a vertical portion and a horizontal portion at its upper end, and further compris ing means sealing the gaps between said horizontal portion and said panel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,920,357 1/1960 Ericson 98- 10 3,069,991 12/1962 Ericson 98-40 3,082,676 3/1963 Church et a1 9840 3,270,655 9/1966 Guirl et al 9836 EDWARD J. MICHAEL, Primary Examiner. ROBERT A. OLEARY, Examiner.

W. E. WAYNER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A CEILING ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF STRINGERS ADAPTED TO CARRY CEILING PANELS, A PLURALITY OF CARRIER MEMBERS CARRIED BY SAID STRINGERS, AND AT LEAST ONE PAIR OF WALL MEMBERS EXTENDING AT AN ANGLE WITH RESPECT TO SAID STRINGERS, THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF EACH OF SAID WALL MEMBERS BEING SUPPORTED BY A CARRIER MEMBERS, THE TWO WALL MEMBERS OF EACH PAIR BEING SPACED APART TO DEFINE A VENTILATION OPENING AND BEING DISPLACEABLE RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER FOR ADJUSTMENT OF THE WIDTH OF SAID OPENING. 